Using colour throughout a home can be an expressive way to personalise a space. However, high levels of personalisation and the bold use of colour might stand against the homeowner when it comes to time to sell the home.
“Colour can have an exceptional impact on buyers,” explains Adrian Goslett, Regional Director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa. “Understanding the costly and labour-intensive effort it would take to repaint a home, most buyers simply choose not to look past the fact that a home is not painted according to their taste.”
Homeowners preparing a property to sell will need to look past their own emotional connection to the space and instead focus on what can elevate their home’s overall aesthetic appeal to as broad a range of buyers as possible, as this will help their chances of selling at full value. When it comes to the home’s interior paint colours, consider what shades serve best as a visual template for prospective buyers to picture themselves living in the space.
For those who are unsure how to achieve this, RE/MAX of Southern Africa shares some tips on how to choose sellable colours for the interior of the home:
Avoid bright shades: Neutral shades will always have the broadest appeal when it comes to time to sell.
Use colour to your advantage: In tight spaces, being strategic with accent walls and colours can create the illusion of more space.
Play into colour trends: Pale yellow, for example, used to be a very popular neutral colour choice in its day, but in today’s terms, shades of light grey tend to be a more modern replacement.
Consider your furniture: Before selecting a shade of paint, consider if the colour will either match or clash with the colour of your furniture. Buyers might struggle to picture how they would furnish and decorate the home if the current configuration doesn’t feel comfortable or inviting.
Before applying new paint to the walls, Goslett recommends that homeowners test the colour on a wall in the room to make sure it is the best shade for the space. “The painted area should be allowed to dry for 24 hours, as paint often looks different after it has dried. Check this test strip in the morning, noon, and evening, as the colour might appear slightly different depending on the time of day,” he recommends.
Those who are still unsure of what colour to pick for the interior of their home, could contact a real estate advisor to find out what are the most popular colour choices among buyers in that area. “This can help sellers make an informed decision before they add a new coat of paint to the walls,” Goslett concludes.
Writer : Kayla Ferguson
